WINSTED >> The charter revision committee submitted a list of proposed changes to the charter to town hall Tuesday. The most impactful change would be to increase the membership of the Planning and Zoning Commission from five to seven, while eliminating alternates. The committee will not pursue the creation of a Board of Finance, which they had been discussing.

The Charter Revision Committee is appointed by the Board of Selectman and tasked with looking over the town charter and proposing possible changes for the good of the town. Any changes must be approved by the Board of Selectmen and then go before a town vote.

The committee, which was formed in February, has proposed between 15 and 20 changes, many of which are minor and deal with language changes in the charter text, making it easier to understand and less likely to be misinterpreted. The maximum bid amount, currently $3,000, is proposed to be increased to $6,000. Two members wanted this to jump as high as $10,000, but it was not supported.

The Finance Board was the largest undertaking of the committee. Winchester is one of the only towns in the area that doesn’t have a Board of Finance. This type of town council would oversee town finances and play a pivotal role in the budget process. As things stand now, most of that responsibility is in the hands of selectmen, who approve the Town Manager’s proposed budget before pushing it out to a referendum. Unlike many neighboring towns, it is the citizens who ultimately vote to pass a budget.

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What would be a massive change for the town ultimately was too tall a task at this point in time. Candy Perez, second selectman, called it a “fundamental shift in town government” were they to add a finance board. She said it was not something to be taken lightly.

Karen Beadle, chair of the charter revision committee, outlined to selectmen in a letter why the charter committee wouldn’t proceed with their plan to found a finance board.

“Through careful research we found this task would need many man hours of the Town Attorney and possibly additional tax dollars,” Beadle wrote. The timing wasn’t right for the charter, given “major changes to the Board of Selectmen” and “other major issues in town.”

“Many of us still believe the concept has merit,” Beadle wrote, “and may be an issue another [Charter Revision] Committee could explore.”

Planning and Zoning would be expanded to seven regular members on three year revolving terms under this proposal, but would also likely require an ordinance change. Beadle called this a “chicken and egg” situation Tuesday, but guessed that the ordinance change would come after town approval.

From here, the decision will go to the Board of Selectmen, who can decide to approve the proposed changes. If the board does, any proposed changes to the charter would be on the November ballot for the townspeople to vote on.

“I want to commend Karen [Beadle] and everybody on the work that they did,” Mayor Marsha Sterling said Monday. “They put a lot of thought into this so I thank them for that.”